Building The last mile'
Utilities may want to leverage the multibillion-dollar investment cable television is about to make. Virtually every utility has corporate objectives to focus more on the customer and change the way the customer is viewed. Utility supply strategy has been shifting away from building large, expensive power plants to making smaller investments with flexible options that can be adjusted to suit future conditions. This strategy is requisite to helping utilities keep and build their share of the market. One result is that utilities and regulators have adopted the concept of demand-side management (DSM) with enthusiasm. What's more, the last 10 years have brought new utility initiatives to explore customer value-oriented pricing structures that recognize the varying cost of production. These DSM opportunities and pricing initiatives require utilities to communicate with customers and help them manage their electricity use. New DSM programs that rely on communications technology include: (1) Providing real-time price signals for electricity-and eventually gas and water; (2) Implementing a direct- or shared-load control program for peak clipping or valley filling by interacting with properly equipped smart appliances; (3) Providing beyond-the-meter value-added services for residential customers, such as weather monitoring, video communications, home comfort automation, appliance monitoring and diagnostics, and energy efficiency tips; and (4) Obtaining detailed data on customers' electricity use patterns to develop new DSM programs. One action by the utility industry will determine whether this strategic vision is achieved: the establishment of a two-way, user-friendly, voice, data, and video communication path to the customer from the utility.
- OSTI ID:
- 7109610
- Journal Information:
- Fortnightly; (United States), Journal Name: Fortnightly; (United States) Vol. 132:6; ISSN FRTNE8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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